BRA Day in Brampton

October is National Breast Cancer Month in Canada, several events are held all over the country which highlight this disease and the surrounding fears and procedures that women who are diagnozed with breast cancer face. One such event, held on October 19, was National Breast Reconstruction Awareness (BRA) Day. Several hospitals throughout Canada held special open houses to highlight this important subject. The day was created to clear up the fears and misconceptions about this type of surgery and for women to have the chance to ask questions of medical personnel in a relaxed setting.

Brampton Civic Hospital held an open house on BRA Day; doctors Christine Tang, an expert on breast reconstruction surgery, and Don Jones, chief of oncology were on hand to answer any questions that patients and their families might have. As with most hospitals and health centres, local brochure printers would have most likely provided the Brampton Civic Hospital with specific literature to be distributed to interested parties.

When a woman is diagnozed with breast cancer her whole life changes. Suddenly, it is all about doctor’s visits and surgery to either remove a lump from the breast or the entire breast itself and surgery to remove lymph nodes for testing. Both of these procedures might require breast reconstruction, depending on what the patient decides. After having so many previous surgeries due to breast cancer, a woman might tend to steer away from reconstruction surgery out of fear. Events such as BRA Day help to ease the minds of many women once they hear exactly what breast reconstruction entails.